Mollecular and

Cellular Biology
Lecture – 2

Nafis Neehal, Lecturer, Department of CSE, DIU

CONTENTS
1. Cell
- Eukaryotes VS Prokaryotes
- Mitosis VS Meiosis
2. Nucleic Acids
-DNA
* DNA Structure
* DNA Replication
-RNA
* RNA Structure
* Major RNA Types
3. Gene Structure
4. Central Dogma
5. Protein
6. Gene Regulation and Alternative Splicing
7. Miscellaneous Terms
1. Cell
Let’s learn about Eukaryotes, Prokaryotes and Cell Division
Eukaryotic
Cells

• Single or Multi Cell

• Are called Eukaryotes

• Have Nucleus

• Have membrane bounded organelles

• Have chromosomes inside Nucleus

• Seen in most of the life forms

Prokaryotic
Cells

▹ Single Cell organism

▹ Are called Prokaryotes

▹ No Nucleus

▹ No other membrane bounded organelles

▹ One piece of rolled up DNA floating in

cellular fluid

▹ Mostly some forms of very ancient Bacteria

Mitosis Cell
Division

• Happens in Somatic Cells (general

body cells)

• Cell and chromosome, both gets

divided only once

• No cross over

• Takes part in healing and repair

Meiosis Cell
Division

• Happens in Germ Cells

• Cell is divided twice, but chromosome

only once

• Cross over happens

• Takes part in formation of gametes and

maintenance of chromosome number in
the race
2. DeOxyRiboNucleic Acid
(DNA)
Carrier of genetic instructions
DNA Structure
▹ Double Helix Structure (Watson and Crick,
Nature 1953)

▹ Two complimentary antiparallel strands,

one runs from 5’ to 3’ end and another runs
from 3’ to 5’ end

▹ 3 major parts – Nitrogenous Base, 5-Carbon

Deoxyribose Sugar and Phosphate Group

▹ Four nitrogenous bases – Adenine (A),

Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), Thymine (T)

▹ A-T is Double Hydrogen Bond and G-C is

Triple Hydrogen Bond

▹ DNA is more stable than RNA due to its

Deoxyribose Sugar Structure
DNA ▹ Initiation
Replication - Helicase enzyme unwinds DNA strands
- Replication fork is created
- RNA Primer is created by Primase enzyme
- Primer is starting point of elongation
▹ Elongation
- New DNA Strand grows 1 base at a time as
complimentary of leading strand (5’ to 3’)
- DNA Polymerase enzyme controls it
- Complimentary strand of lagging strand is
created in small fragments called Okazaki
Fragments (3’ to 5’)
▹ Termination
- Exonuclease enzyme removes all the
primer sequences from new strands
- Again, DNA Polymerase fills the gaps
- DNA Ligase enzyme seals all the gaps

* DNA Replication is Semi-Conservative, because, in new sets of DNA, one strand is newly created
but the other strand comes from the ancestor.
3. RiboNucleic Acid (RNA)
Protein Coding and Carrier
RNA Structure
▹ Single Helix Structure

▹ Single Strand which generally runs from 5’

to 3’

▹ 3 major parts – Nitrogenous Base, 5-Carbon

Ribose Sugar and Phosphate Group

▹ Four nitrogenous bases – Adenine (A),

Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), Uracil (U)

▹ A-U is Double Hydrogen Bond and G-C is

Triple Hydrogen Bond

▹ RNA is less stable than DNA due to its

Ribose Sugar’s structure
RNA Types

Messenger RNA Transfer RNA (tRNA) Ribosomal RNA

Transfers specific amino acid
(mRNA) sequence to ribosome to form
(rRNA)
Carries a genes coding message for Protein and rRNA combinedly forms
Protein
protein from Nucleus to Ribosome ribosome

Non-Coding RNA Catalytic RNA Double Stranded RNA

Not translated into protein. Ex – Catalyze chemical reaction. Contains complementary strands
tRNA, rRNA like DNA. Induces gene exrpression.
4. Gene Structure
A basic structure of Eukaryotic Gene Gene
Eukaryotic Gene Structure

▹ Two major parts – Exon & Intron

▹ Exon – Takes part in protein coding and production
▹ Intron – Does not take part in protein coding, part of pre-
mRNA but gets filtered out in matured mRNA
5. Central Dogma
Producing Protein from DNA
Major Steps of Central
Dogma
▹ Transcription
- RNA Polymerase enzyme attaches to the start of the
gene
- mRNA is created (complimentary to DNA strand RNA
Polymerase is attached)
- mRNA is processed, unnecessary sections are
removed (introns)
- mRNA moves out of nucleus into cytoplasm

▹ Translation
- mRNA binds to Ribosome
- Ribosome reads code in mRNA (triplets/codons)
- tRNA brings Amino Acid corresponding to codon
- Chain of Polypeptide / Amino Acid is formed
- Chain folds in different 3D shapes and produces
different types of Proteins
Genetic Codes in Translation
(Codons)

▹ Start Codon – AUG

▹ Start Codon codes Methionine

▹ Stop Codon – UAA, UAG, UGA

▹ 64 Combinations Possible

▹ 20 Amino Acids

▹ More than 1 combination can code single

Amino Acid (Ex – UUU, UUC both codes
-Phe-)
6. Protein
3D Structure with different formation of Amino Acid chain
Protein Overview

▹ Chains of 20 types of Amino Acid

▹ Performs most of the cell functions

- Regulates gene expression
- Acts as enzymes which catalyze chemical reactions
- Forms structures

▹ Folds into 3 dimensional structures

▹ Function of a protein is determined by its structure

7. Gene Regulation and
Alternative Splicing
Study different gene regulations and splicing method
Regulating Gene
Expression

▹ Gene regulation refers to the

mechanism of inducing or repressing
the expression of a gene

▹ 2 types of regulation – Positive &

Negative

▹ Positive Regulation works with

Activator
* Operator + Activator =
Transcription
* Operator – Activator = No
Transcription

▹ Negative Regulation works with

Repressor
* Operator + Repressor = No
Alternative Splicing

▹ DNA has genes

▹ Genes has regions – Exons &

Introns

▹ Pre-mRNA has both introns and

exons

▹ Matured mRNA has only exons

▹ Different combinations of exon

regions form different protein, this is
alternative splicing

▹ Alternative Splicing is the process in

which one gene produces many
different proteins
8. Miscellaneous Terms
Some comparisons, terms etc.
Phenotype VS Genotype
▹Phenotype is the physical expression of a
gene

▹Genotype is the genetic structure

▹Example – Eye color is phenotype, and the

gene responsible for eye color is genotype.
Deoxyribose VS Ribose
Sugar

▹DNA has deoxyribose sugar

▹RNA has ribose sugar

▹DNA is more stable than RNA due

to the sugar structure stability
Purine VS
Pyrimidine
▹Purines have double ring

▹Pyrimidines have single

ring
Nucleotide VS Nucleoside

▹Nucleoside = Base + Sugar

▹Nucleotide = Base + Sugar +

Phosphate
3-7 Years Average
Lifespan of a Human Hair

1 Cm
Taller in the morning than in the evening

32 Million
Bacteria lives in every inch of your skin

Human Tongue
Strongest muscle in the body
Motivated
TO BE
CONT
INUED

?
Youtube Links
▹DNA Structure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1CRrtkWwu0

▹DNA Replication - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNKWgcFPHqw

▹Central Dogma - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG7uCskUOrA